Many manufacturers of TV tuners have been recently expanding their ranges of portable models, which can be connected between a video card and a monitor. For many users the drop of prices for LCD monitors and a relatively low consumers' price for a combination of such a monitor with a portable tuner compensate even for such cons as no video capture.

Package Contents

Unlike AVerTV Box 5 Live, this box does not have a transparent insert. I cannot say that the box looks any worse because of that. On the contrary, it looks quite good because of the loud combination of orange and dark-blue colors.

The box contains the following items:

Tuner

Vertical stand

Infrared remote control

VGA cable

S-Video/Component YPbPr (480i) 2 in 1 Cable

Audio cable

AC power adapter

User manual

"TV by AverMedia" nameplate

Design and specification

Features different from Box 5:

Supports 1280x1024 resolution

Supports A2/NICAM stereo

Supports component YCbCr input

Multiple channel preview

Picture-in-Picture See-Through Translucent Mode

On/off timer

This device claims to support teletext in european countries, but either Russia is not a part of Europe or this function fell a victim of adaptations to our market.

You may have noticed that the tuner design does not differ from that of Box 5. Its dimensions (158x113x24 mm) remained unchanged, and so Box 9 is one of the most compact portable tuners.

The tuner can be installed horizontally as well as vertically (the bundle includes a vertical stand).

The front panel still houses audio-ins, composite video input, headphones jack, IR-receiver, and a tuner activity LED. Implementation of the component input resulted in the transformation of the standard S-Video 4-pin into a 7-pin connector.

The rear panel was not modified. Antenna connector (flush-mounted and extended with an adapter), VGA connectors, and audio in/out stay put.

The model range is certainly designed with due regard for manufacturing unification. Nevertheless, the new features of this TV tuner naturally resulted in some changes in PCB design.

Stereo sound options are specified for each channel separately, so there appeared another option in the settings.

Box 9 has a clock and on/off timer. Note that the time settings are reset, when you turn off power.

Picture In Picture

This function displays video from the TV tuner over a part of the analog picture from the video card.

"Picture-in-picture" is called using the PIP button on the remote control. PIP CH and PIP Pos. buttons remap the volume control and channel settings buttons from their direct functions to window position control.

When you press the PIP button for the second time, the PiP video becomes semitransparent.

Note that Box 9 uses only its video processor to manage this mode.

There are some drawbacks here as well. PIP is possible only when both the tuner and the monitor are set to 60 Hz. And unlike Greenwood TV POP 1280S, the video window size is fixed. Besides, when you press the AV/PC button in this mode, there will be no sound at tuner activation until you switch to the full-screen mode.

Multi-channel preview

The PREVIEW button on the remote control switches the tuner to the multiple channel preview mode.

The matrix consists of 12 cells and a larger window in the center. We have come across a similar Channel Surf implementation in the latest version of the software for tuners manufactured by Compro Technology.

Unfortunately, the sound is muted for some odd reason, when this function is in progress.

Quality

Video path of the tuner underwent no changes in comparison with Box 5. Video quality is on a good level. Enabled deinterlacing creates ghosting, which is however much easier to accept that the comb like effect.

Strange as it may seem, when rewinding a tape in a VCR connected to the composite video-in, we had a synchronization glitch resulting in a blue screen. Perhaps it's a peculiarity of our sample, at least Box 5 used to operate absolutely correctly in the same conditions.

Despite a casual look of the small-diameter VGA cable that comes with the bundle, we have no complaints about the picture quality on the monitor.

Infrared remote control

It's the remote control, which is used in AverMedia portable tuners since Box 3. It's powered by two AAA batteries included into the bundle.

Note that Box 9 actually uses PIP, PIP CH, PIP Pos. and PREVIEW buttons. Reminder – using the PICTURE button you can get a quick access to the menu responsible for video settings.

Conclusions

Though the 75 Hz mode makes it impossible to use "picture-in-picture" and 1280x1024 resolution, AVerTV Box 9 is presently the only available portable tuner that can decode stereo sound. That's why this product is honoured with the Original Design award.

Pros

Good audio and video quality

Good sensitivity

Supports 1280x1024 resolution

Decodes A2/NICAM stereo

Supports component YCbCr input

Frequency setup

Channel sorting

Individual colour-television system and audio settings for each channel

Deinterlacing

On/off timer

Multiple channel preview

Picture-in-Picture See-Through Translucent Mode

Localized menu

Compact dimensions

Cons

1280x1024 resolution is available only at 60 Hz

Picture-in-picture is available only at 60 Hz

Fixed video window size in PIP mode

No sound in multiple channel preview

Sync glitch when rewinding a tape in a connected VCR (it may be a peculiarity of our sample)

For the time of this review AVerTV Box 9 is almost the most expensive model among portable tuners available on the Russian market. But by some parameters it's inferior to its competitors. For example, Greenwood TV POP 1280S offers the 1280x1024x75Hz mode and "picture-in-picture" with resizable video window. However, taking into account the all frequency channel scan (this feature is especially useful in case of complicated conditions of television broadcasting), individual colour-television system and audio settings for each channel, and A2/NICAM support, the price difference will not seem that excessive to many users.